


Stranded

by Cssty



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Canon Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-07
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 12:38:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15219317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cssty/pseuds/Cssty
Summary: Storms come and go, but this one stays right where it is. Natsu and Lucy, along with Happy and Gray find themselves lost and stranded on an island. With obstacles of the forest and dangerous creatures, who knows what will come up next. And what's worse? They can't use magic here. In a struggle for life and death, who knows what will happen next.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so, thanks a bunch if you check this out!!! I started this fic back in 2015. I literally had one chapter of it left to go, so I hope there's not a drastic change in my writing style because I'm finishing it now in 2018. I hope you guys enjoy it!!

At the time, it was sunny. Bright and cheerful like a child who was ready to play. Though Natsu, of course, was lying on the boat, his pink hair all over the floor underneath him, sick as a dog. This usually happens when we're coming back from a job. Natsu's blue cat companion was sitting beside him and I was across from the two, as the boat slowly drifted on its way.

"You've got to do something about that motion sickness Natsu." I sighed. "It should be no problem on a trip like this."

"It's not his fault Lucy." Happy, the blue cat responded, shaking his head.

"But still…" I mumbled, as a smooth rumble came from somewhere. "What was that?" I asked, getting sidetracked, and glancing over to the side.

The water, that was silky smooth before, suddenly turned into a huge, wrestling storm. Our boat rocked violently, and next thing I knew that was clear, was that we all spilled out. Then I drifted off to a shore, and when I woke up I was stranded there. Not knowing where anyone is, I lost Happy, and the pink haired fool Natsu somewhere.

Then, I had an idea. One of my spirits could go look for them. 'Virgo would be willing to help. Horologium could help too,' I thought, rustling through my keys. Once I found Virgo's key, I tried to summon her. But the pink haired girl from the celestial world did not come, there were no signs of her or her maid suit anywhere.

I tried again, and again, but Virgo did not come. When I tried Horologium too, there was no sign of the clock spirit even existing at the moment. But I kept trying, resulting in failure every time.

"Lucy!" I heard Happy call. I turned around and there he was. "I can't find Natsu anywhere…"

"Me neither. Have you tried your wings?" I asked the cat, willing for at least his magic to be working.

"Nope..." Happy said back. "I couldn't use them… Lucy, we can't use magic here. Have you at least seen Natsu?"

"We lost him…" I said, looking out at the mad water, which against the rocks made it look like a face that was screaming, and I wondered if Natsu landed in a different place…and if he's even alive anymore.

Eventually, Happy and I came to the decision that we would keep looking around this dark, gloomy island to try and find our friend that had gone missing. But after many hours of struggling with the trees and the now falling water from the sky, I thought about just giving up. We were getting nowhere, and there wasn't any symbol of Natsu's pink hair, or of his scarf, the thing that he has with him almost all the time. One thing we did see, however, was clothes. Happy saw them before I did, but after I saw them closely; they were torn, ripped apart by something out of the ordinary. Now, as much as I feared that Natsu lost his life, I was scared of keeping my own as well.

"You don't think," I began.

"Don't worry." Said Happy. His voice was shaky, yet there was the tiniest hint of confidence. "Those aren't his. Whoever's it was, got a big beating. But it's weird, where's the body?"

"I don't want to find the body. I just want to know if Natsu's alive." I continued. "We have to find him and get out of here."

Happy and I carried on, tripping and stumbling on at least every other rock, tree root, or hills there were, in desperate search of the only person that was missing. It wasn't long until we stumbled upon a building. A big, tall, round one. I was trying not to get my hopes up, but I thought maybe, just maybe, Natsu would be there. So I opened the door, and headed inside, being followed by the small blue cat.

"Natsu!" We called as we got inside, but all hope was lost when we called, for we got no response.

I slumped against the wall of the abandoned building. There really was no hope left. I buried my head in my knees. First we got stranded, then we lost Natsu and now he's probably dead. Not to mention there's probably dangerous creatures we would never know about.

Suddenly, the door of the building swung open and hit the wall. I expected to see one of the unknown creatures that were out there, but then when I looked up, I saw him. The pink haired, scarf wearing idiot of all time, was alive. I sighed in relief that we were all safe, and he was finally with us again. The rain, the island, nothing else mattered. We found Natsu, and he was alive. I couldn't help but to fling myself at him and pull him into a tight hug.

"I wasn't that missed, was I?" he asked, his voice kind of confused.

"No, not at all," I said with an attitude. "Though it's better to find you out there alive not dead. Remember, this place is strange, and who knows what could happen."

"Right…" he responded, a smile creeping onto his face. "There's no way I can die Lucy. I can protect myself. With my magic and all."

"Natsu," I looked at him. "We can't use magic here."

"Oh really?" Natsu asked, clearly the first time he heard this information. "Just another reason to get off this dreaded island. Let's just stay here. The storm will be over soon."


	2. Chapter 2

The hope of getting off the island faded. When I woke up, it was still pouring, and the thunderclaps sounded loud, like a cannon firing off. I looked over at Happy, just waking up, his eyes drowsy and disappointed, and then at Natsu, who was surprisingly still asleep. I wondered about the guild, and if people were worried that we didn't come back yesterday. I could imagine Levi's worried face and Erza's too. But then again, there are people like Gajeel and Laxus, not giving a crap if we come back or not. I got interrupted from my thoughts from a voice to my left.

"Lucy?"

I looked over to see a now just woken Natsu, and I just had to admire the cute tired look on his face. "Yeah Natsu?"

"Nothin. You just kinda looked… Distanced. That's all…" he said, looking at me.

"Aye…" agreed Happy, also looking over.

"I-I'm fine." I stammered out, looking away from their sight. To be honest though, I'm not fine. I'm scared. And I don't want to get lost on this dreaded place. Not here, not ever. But whatever I was thinking, I just turned my face away and tried to hide my feelings, lock them away so that Natsu and Happy won't see, even though I was already failing at that.

As rain pounded on the roof, you could of course hear the growl of Natsu's empty stomach. Happy and I sighed. But right as we sighed, our stomachs growled too. We all had to jump back to the reality that we hadn't eaten since about yesterday afternoon, when we first got stranded on this cold, dark, wet island. As hungry as we were, however, we did not want to risk our lives at the moment, so we decided that heading out later would be better, so for now, we had to just sit and wait.

It seemed like it took almost a year to ever get through two hours. I don't know what is driving me insane more, our vicious, growling stomachs, or the fact that the rain is still pounding on the roof of the only shelter we could find, the abandoned lighthouse that we've been in for a day and a half. Either one it was, it was doing a pretty good job. Through all of the noise, however, a door clang was heard. Someone, or rather something, just burst in from the outside. Natsu jumped up to protect me and Happy, but when I looked around him I saw a manly figure limp in. It was definitely a person, but when a tiny bit of lightning shot behind the figure, I saw the blue hair, and a person with no shirt on. I knew who it was in an instant.

"Gray!" I gasped out and ran to his side, as his limp gave in and he fell to the floor. He was in really bad shape, scratches and bruises all over him.

"Nice to know I'm not the only one on this island." He panted out. "Natsu, Lucy, Happy. For once it's good to see some familiar faces…"  
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Natsu and I dragged Gray inside, and I found stuff in the little we had to start covering Gray's wounds, which led to my next question. "Why are you so beat up?"

"I was running from a creature…" Gray shrugged. "It tore my clothes, so I just took them off."

"Stripping in the middle of nowhere doesn't even faze you…" I mumbled, bandaging a scratch on his back. "Wait so Happy those clothes…"

"Those were Gray's?!" Happy finished. "And I thought they were a dead body's… Bummer…"

"Happy!"

"Sorry…"

"Anyways, what kind of creature was it Gray? Your clothes looked totally massacred." I asked, fixing up the last of the many scratches on his body. By the looks of the scratches, it wasn't a small creature at all. It seemed like a large beast, one that means to kill when it attacks.

"Well," Gray began, "It definitely was huge. The face looked like an eagle… But the body was like a lion. There were wings too… And the paws were replaced with Talons..." He looked down, clearly painfully remembering what the creature looked like. "I don't know how I even escaped it. I couldn't use my ice magic and whatever the animal was, it was on hot pursuit, until it got distracted…"

"You mean a Griffin." Butted in Natsu, who sounded serious.

"A Griffin? Natsu, those actually exist?" I asked, with a gasp. "I've only read about them… I've never seen one before…"

"Well they're out there Lucy. Active too." Mentioned Happy.

"I know, you stupid cat." I said, sighing. "Without our magic, we won't stand a chance. We might just have to… Hang back a while. See what happens."

"But I'm hungry…" complained Natsu, his stomach growling even louder.

"But we can't face these Griffins without magic." I shook my head. "There's no way I'm letting you guys risk your lives for another. We have to stay together… So we can somehow get out of here."

"Fine." Natsu huffed. After we all grew silent, there was a huge noise that sounded like a vicious voice tearing through the evening night. Then it just became silent again, until there was a response to the other one, but there was no more cawing and screaming after that. We sat there until it grew to be pitch black, and we could barely see each other in the dim light. In the cool dark room, the clearly exhausted Gray fell asleep quickly first, and I was struggling to keep my eyes open, along with Happy, who was also worn out and tired. Natsu was the most awake out of all of us, watching Happy and I as one by one we slowly passed out to a deep sleep. Minutes after we were all asleep, Natsu got up and walked out of the door, into the cold dark mysterious night. Soon after the door slammed, not waking any of us when Natsu left us.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up early in the dark, freezing morning. Shivering, I looked around and saw Gray and Happy quietly sleeping. I was about to curl up to get warm, but then I noticed. Natsu wasn't here, he was gone!

"Natsu? Natsu!" I yelled, hoping that he was somewhere in our cold shelter, and I just couldn't see him. "Natsu!" I called again.

"What's with the racket?" asked Gray, being woken up by my panicked shouts.

"Natsu's gone. Missing. He must've left in the middle of the night. There's no way he can sur-"

"-Calm down Lucy. He's ok-"

"-How do you know? You've seen those things Gray, there's no way we can face them without our magic!"

There was a huge pause. Either I or Gray bothered to talk. There was no room to argue, we had to agree with each other to survive this island. Both of us were just stuck staring at each other. No words came out of either of our mouths, no one moved until Happy finally woke up and noticed us.

"What's with the tension?" he questioned, rubbing his half-awake eyes with his blue paws. "Gray? Lucy?"

I sighed. "It's nothing Happy…"

"Natsu's gone!" Happy yelled, just now noticing his companion was gone.

"No really, you stupid blue cat." I responded. 'Where could he have gone…' my thoughts rambled on and on. 'And why would he have left in the middle of the night?' All these things to ponder, all these worries, all these fears, I don't think we really realized how real they could be when we were left alone with new fears, and no magic to use in defense.

The door shook hard, harder than Plue shakes on a normal basis, and flew open with a crash. I expected that this was going to be the end, that we would die right here in the beak of a griffin. But what to expect, it's only the stupid dragon slayer that left us, to probably go find some food, or some stupid reason like that.

"You IDIOT!" I screamed at him, stomping forward. "Do you just want us to ASSUME that you would come back alive? Get real! What would've happened if you DIED!" I went to punch his arm, but immediately stopped as tears started to run down my face. "We're supposed to be a team… Don't just go away and leave us behind… We don't need to lose you Natsu…"

I stumbled a bit forward as he wrapped his arms around me. "I'm fine Lucy… Fine calm down. It was stupid of me to go off on my own. But hey… I'm back alive." He brought me down so we were both sitting on the ground, but he was still holding me tight and he lightly laughed. "Besides, I got food, quite a lot. Not much besides berries and herbs on this island but you know."

"No fish Natsu?" Asked Happy, wandering over.

"Sorry Happy, you'll have to deal." Natsu said to the blue cat.

"Aye…"

"Now Lucy," he said, his attention back to me. "Wipe those eyes dry and we can eat if the idiot Gray gets over here."

"You fool…." I mumbled into his shoulder, wiping off my eyes on his scarf to get rid of the tears.

"I'm coming…. Sheesh…" Gray mentioned, annoyed as he got up and walked over to our little tiny circle of people just trying to survive.

Breakfast was different as is usually is at the guild hall. It was all silent, all you could hear was the pounding of rain on the silent roof. No talking about recent jobs or new members that came into the guild, just major silence and the taste of sweet and juicy berries, and surprisingly, Natsu and Gray had nothing to nosily bicker about. We all had our share in food, though we were limited on what we could eat, so there's more for future days. Who knows how long we will be stuck here anyways.

After breakfast there was a loud thunk on the door. And before we knew it, Happy was up and running towards the door, opening it to find none other than fish. "If there is a god out there I think he found us." Happy said joyously, picking up the fish and walking back over to us. However, the fish wasn't the only thing walking with Happy. Right after the blue cat, trotted a baby Griffin.

"Um…. Happy…" I muttered, backing up slightly and getting closer to Natsu.

"What?" he asked, holding up the fish and turning around, noticing the baby Griffin and screaming a bit as Gray rushed to the door and closed it. "A-a-a…. A Griffin!" he cried out, jumping back as the Griffin looked like it was going to attack. But instead of a mighty roar like the adult Griffins, only a meow came out of this Griffin's mouth. It sat down, and looked over at the fish.

"It's like a little cat." Chuckled Natsu.

"It just wants food." Smiled Gray, walking over and taking the fish from Happy and placing it in front of the Griffin, who started to gobble it up quickly.

"What are we going to do with the Griffin though? The parents will be looking for it eventually…. We can't leave it here…." I shook my head. "As soon as it's done eating we have to move it out." Just as I said that, a huge monstrous roar came from outside. The parents. They were already on the move.

"It's a bit too late for that Lucy." Natsu panicked, getting up. "How are we gonna get this out of here?" he asked, as the roars were getting closer.

"Damn…. They can probably smell it." Muttered Gray, as the next thing we heard were wings pounding against our abandoned shelter, and the roars louder than ever.

Happy and I started pushing the baby Griffin, hoping it would eventually walk out the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Shit…." I muttered, as the Griffin meowed again, the roars responding to it.

The building was shaking hard from the roars and the beating wings. The Griffins were trying to get in, which was the worst part. The baby was still not moving. Happy, Natsu, Gray and I, we were all screwed, or so we thought. Just when it seemed like the building was going to collapse from all the shaking everything stopped, because the baby Griffin just decided to walk on out of the room and back to the outside where its parents were searching. I sighed in relief and sunk to the floor, with Happy next to me, moaning about the loss of his fish. Gray and Natsu silently sat down where they were and sighed.

"Happy never do that again…" muttered Natsu, rubbing his eyes. "Even if there is fish at the door…."

"Sorry Natsu…" apologized Happy, his ears slightly falling as he closed his eyes.

Later that day, it got cold. And by night time, it was freezing. Without Natsu's fire, we had nothing to keep warm by. We jumbled close together for heat, even though we all weren't that warm anyways. We were as cold as Gray's ice. All four of us were all just a clump of people trying to get warm, snuggled up against each other. First Happy fell asleep, then Gray, which left only Natsu and me in the darkness, the only ones awake. I was slightly drifting off to sleep, but then I heard Natsu whisper "Lucy?"

"Yeah?" I asked, looking up to his face.

"Do you really think we will get out here alive? Back to the guild?"

That took me by surprise. I had never seen Natsu doubt something before, let alone doubting getting back from a mission. He seemed kind of hopeless at the moment. I reached out and gently brushed some of his pink hair away from his face. "Natsu, we will get back." I lightly smiled, even though I slightly doubted it myself. "I promise you. Even though we don't have magic, we'll pull through this."

The last thing I remember of that night, is seeing Natsu smile, and being pulled into his arms.


	4. Chapter 4

For the first time ever, rain stopped pounding. The sun was peeking out from the clouds only a tiny bit, but the light was just enough to wake Happy and Gray from their slumber. Both of them looked out the window lazily, than took a glance down to Natsu and I, with me still placed in his arms, curled up against his warmth. "Is it just me, or did something happen between those two last night?" Gray questioned, squinting his eyes a bit.

"Aye." Happy responded in return, looking over to Gray. "They seem like they've gotten closer."

Just as Happy finished, I opened my eyes, rubbing them lightly, rolling over to face Gray and Happy, Natsu's arms still around me. "Hey guys, what's up…"

"Lucy," Happy cocked his head to the side. "Did you and Natsu get a little too close last night or was that an exchange of feelings?"

My eyes immediately shot wide open. "Wha- what? No, no, nothing happened!" I blushed, pushing myself up to sitting. "I swear!"

"You're blushhhhhiiiiinnnnnggggggg."

"Happy- No- Nothing-"

"You liiiiiikkkkkkeeeeeeee himmmmmmm." Happy giggled, covering his mouth with his paws.

"Shut up you stupid cat!" I yelled, face bright red as Natsu finally opened his eyes.

"What did I miss?" Natsu asked curiously.

"Nothing!" I shouted, with Happy's simultaneous "Something big!"

The fire wizard blinked then sat up, turning to the window. "Hey, the sun is up!" he exclaimed, a smile lifting on his face, completely changing the subject. "Maybe we can go and find a way out!"

"A way out? Finally. We've been stuck here for days." Gray huffed, crossing his arms.

"Fish!" Happy leaped in joy. "I can finally have fish again!"

"Hey boys, let's not get too hasty." I responded, rubbing my temple lightly. "Just because the sun is barely out, it doesn't mean we're getting out of here. Sure it's a glimmer of hope but…" I mentioned, as all of their faces fell back to frowns. We all sat there for a moment, all in silence. "The Griffins too, they almost got to us last night, remember? It's still dangerous, even though the rain has stopped. If we're going to attempt to find a way out, we need a plan."

"Good plan." Natsu responded, looking around the empty room a bit. "... What was the plan again?"

"Natsu um... We don't have a plan."

"Oh. Right Lucy okay."

"... Rocks?" Happy suggested, raising his paw.

"No Happy, Griffins are more powerful than rocks." Gray said back, hugging his knees a bit. "Maybe... Um...We could light a fire. Distract them with smoke."

"That's a good idea, except we have no fire starter."

"We could always use rock-on-rock, I mean, that works." Natsu piped up, as I nodded my head in agreement. "It's enough to get one going."

"Who's going to do it though? It's a risk. Being noticed by the griffins. Before the fire is lit and after if the Griffins come fast..." I questioned, biting my lip slightly. I didn't want Gray to get hurt. Or Natsu by that matter, even Happy was at risk here with him not being able to fly. I was at risk too. Not one of us could do it without getting hurt, it was a huge risk.

We sat there, the question lingering over our heads. Neither one wanted the others to get hurt, but no one wanted to take the risk, no one wanted to not possibly return to the guild, never see the others again.

"I'll do it." The three of us turned our head in the silence to see that the one who spoke up was Gray. "Hey, I'm the only one who has encountered these things before."

"You escaped by the skin of your teeth!" I protested slightly, shaking my head. "Your clothes were shredded! Gray..."

"Lucy.."

"It's okay Lucy." Natsu reassured lightly, looking at me in the eyes.

"It's not Natsu. What happens if they get him this time? He won't be coming back with us. And that's not okay." I said, raising my voice through the rest of the silence.

"Hey, Lucy. It's Gray. He's tough. He can meet us on the shore after he sets the fire. Once we make it there, we can build something. Then we can set off once he comes. Okay?" Natsu said gently. "It'll be fine trust us."

I gave up to Natsu's tone and relaxed a bit, agreeing with a huff as he smiled over at Happy and Gray, I think we all agreed. "Okay. The plan starts at noon."


	5. Chapter 5

Once noon hit, Gray headed out. Though we had a set plan; I was still immensely worried. One thing that would ease my worry is if our magic would just turn on; like there was an off switch somewhere. But the fact is that our magic is nonexistent. We just had our hope.

Natsu and I waited inside the lighthouse. Though he was the one that reassured me that Gray would be okay by himself; he wouldn't be able to hide the worry on his face even if he tried. Happy was anxiously pacing back and forth behind us.

After a few minutes, a small stream of smoke started in the distance. That was our cue. The three of us darted, scattering in three different directions. The sound of powerful wings came from behind me; it seemed like the fire wasn't enough to divert all of the griffins. I hope none followed Natsu or poor Happy; but I also hoped that I won't be the only one not leaving this island. Even though I was choking back fearful tears, I kept on running as fast as I could. If I stopped, I could be never going back home.

The only thing I could do is weave through the trees and hope to lose the griffin amongst the leaves. I can't tell if it's following me or not; I can't look behind me. One root, one rock could be my downfall. If I trip it's all over. But there's no time to be careful, there's only the here and the now. Survival is the only thing that matters.

"Lucy! Over here!" I hear in the distance. Thank god Natsu seemed to be safe. Once I get there I hope to see Happy there too.

I slow down a bit and take the time to look behind. Somewhere, somehow, I managed to lose the griffin. Further in the distance it seemed that the fire was still going, or maybe it caught on some trees and got bigger. I really couldn't tell. I found a clearing in the trees, and standing there pulling on the ropes to tighten the last part of the raft was Natsu with his small cat behind him.

I breathed in a sigh of relief. "Oh thank god."

"Save that for later." Natsu replied, standing back up. "Gray's still out there. We can't say that until everyone's safe and here." Turning his attention back to the trees, he shook his head. "I hope the idiot didn't set himself on fire." I had never seen Natsu look so serious in his life. That was concerning in itself.

Just then, a roar erupted from the trees. That wasn't the only thing that was heard by the three of us; more roars followed. It was like a whole chorus of griffins were sounding out their dinner songs, and we were the snack. The noises kept getting closer; meaning they were following something right towards us. Gray; he was alive.

As good news as that was; the griffins were following him right towards us. The fire that was ablaze in the distance was dead, which means that Gray was the only thing in their sights. Which means they're coming directly towards us.

When Gray came into view it was time to kick into action. There was no time to think, only to act. Frantically, Natsu, Happy, and I start pushing the raft towards the water. It started floating away as soon as the three of us climbed on it, and that left us screaming at Gray so he could hurry up and make it in time, before he was lost for good. The griffins were just on his tail, if we lost sight of him, we lose him for good.

We were far from the shore; but somehow, he made it. As soon as we were far enough away it seemed that the creatures gave up. It was like they were mad we were on their territory and that was all; it made them seem docile even. What a mystery.

"We… we made it." I mumbled, sitting back in disbelief. "I… can't believe we made it away."

Gray let out a chuckle. "Tell me about it. I just barely escaped that griffin."

"But we're okay now; that's all that matters." Natsu claimed, throwing his arm around me. For the first time in three days, all of us could relax. Now's the time for us to make it back to the guild safe and sound. After a while, Happy and Gray drifted to sleep, leaving me and Natsu the only ones awake.

Natsu, of course, was fighting off his sea sickness which probably kicked in the moment fear subsided and the need to relax took over. But for the first time, he wasn't complaining about it; probably because we had been through so much, seasickness really can't compare to the fear of the griffins and the power of their wings.

It seemed like hours we drifted, with nothing in sight, not even a single island. I didn't realize we went so far away from where we had that job before this whole mess. I wondered how exactly Gray got on that island, if he was there before Natsu and I, he must have been there for an extra few days at the very least.

For a while it seemed like no one would find us; that we would be floating forever until we found land. My eyes were drooping, and even Natsu fell asleep despite his sickness. I was close to drifting to sleep before I noticed a boat that seemed to be heading in our direction. Springing awake I woke Happy up who was absolutely overjoyed; he was even able to open his wings again making him able to fly to get help from that ship. Even though the rest of us were too exhausted to use it, our magic is working again. Thank god.

"It's so good to see you guys!" The woman said when she pulled up to the raft, hauling us all up. Of course, if anyone were to find us it would be Erza. "We thought you guys were gone for good. When Gray didn't come back it was odd, but then you guys disappeared after the job and that was beyond bizzare."

"Yeah…" Gray responded, shrugging his shoulders. "It's been a rough couple of days."

During the rest of the trip back to the guild, Gray and I told Erza all about the island, the storm, and the griffins, all that made it seem like we wouldn't be able to make it out even alive. The only part of the whole experience that had the ability to be laughed at was the time they almost died because Happy brought in a fish.

It was so good to step foot on land again, and to see the guild sitting there. After we all walked in, the guild was bustling with energy. Erza got a lot of thanks, the four of us got scolded a bunch by Makarov, we told the guild how we encountered griffins; making a bunch of people question how we even made it out alive.

Gray got caught up with Juvia like always; she hugged him tight and told him how much she missed him on his trip. I think I even heard her bring up she was jealous of me, her love rival, because I was with him for so long. But for the first time, Gray didn't seem to mind it. At least he was alive. At least we all were.

I glanced over at Natsu. It didn't take him long to start stuffing his face with food. But he could do it with a smile, and that was all that really mattered. I sat down to join him.

We made it back.

We were home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can kinda see the style change now, but hopefully this is a nice conclusion to the story. This I literally came up with today and I hope I conveyed everything correctly. Hope you guys enjoyed Stranded!! It's one of the early fics I can actually say I was proud of.


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